78 Synonyms to live by by Audrey Niven
Take away the colour, the energy, the charisma, the verve, the curiosity. Discard the crazy clothes and the hair that has been pink, blue, plum, russet, platinum, yellow, green, a mixture of them all, and purple besides. Tie it up, let it down, cut it off, let it grow. Forget about the playfulness, the boldness, the loud and the quiet. Let’s not speak of the talent, the skill, the wisdom, the kindness, the fight that burns inside. Whittle away at the interests and passions, the collections, the hobbies, the created things, the ideas and inventions, until only a kernel exists. And then put that away in a box with postcards and photographs and mementoes of youth. Put aside the questing. Accept.
There are seventy-eight synonyms for ordinary.
Normal, common, customary, everyday, standard, typical, conventional, mainstream. An easy start. So-so. Liveable with. But that’s only the first eight. Then comes routine, regular, fixed, traditional, prevailing, run-of-the-mill and the tipping point: boring. Are you ready for boring? Bland? Uninspiring, hackneyed, indifferent, nondescript? Will you fit in with the workaday, colourless, humdrum treadmill of an indifferent life?
You say it’s only spite that makes me say this. You say it’s jealousy – I always was a vicious cow.
It’s just that I don’t want to see you become unremarkable, my friend; undistinguished, uninspiring. By all means settle. Decide. Make the choice.
But if we do have the choice, why not be a glorious, blazing antonym instead?
Audrey Niven
Audrey Niven is a writer and coach based in London and the Campsie Fells just outside Glasgow, and Editor in Charge at The Propelling Pencil, an online flash fiction journal.
Photo by Lisa Fotios – www.pexels.com/@fotios-photos
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